Tai Kaliso
Corporal Tai Kaliso was a Gear soldier who hailed from Irohma Island in the South Islands. A boulder of a man, his muscular appearance stands in contrast to his quiet, meditative personality. Tai descends from a long line of men who viewed themselves not just as fighters but as warriors. This lineage molded Tai into a warrior-philosopher with a spiritual view of war that often causes odd glances from his squadmates. However, they like and respect him, even if they don't always understand him. Tai and Marcus Fenix have a long history of saving each other's lives during the Pendulum Wars, and served alongside each other several times during the Locust War. Biography Early Life Tai was a from the South Islands, and was born on the Island of Irohma. He was raised in that islands strong warrior tradition, which other islands saw as extreme.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 364 Pendulum Wars Battle of Irohma Island Around four years before Emergence Day, Tai's home island was attacked by the Union of Independent Republics. While the main tribal forces defended the village, Tai began stalking UIR squads and taking them out one by one. He later discovered that his village had been destroyed by the UIR, with everyone in it brutally massacred. He continued his tactics of hunting down Indie squads, and by fate he ran into a young Cpl.Marcus Fenix. Marcus told him that the COG was going to win the war, and that he wanted Tai to be on the winning side, offering him a chance to become a Gear.Gears of War: The Quickening Battle of Aspho Fields One year later, Tai was a member of the 26th Royal Tyran Infantry's C Company. He trained for Operation Leveler with the rest of the company, practicing naval insertions. After one practice op, he and Sgt.Bernadette Mataki talked and exchanged rations.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 147-153 During the actual operation, Tai fought in the more urban areas of the battle. He killed two Indie soldiers, giving comfort to one of them until his soul passed. Tai then used the body as a Meat Shield, and killed two more Indie soldiers. He reported to Major Helena Stroud that he could hear Khimeras approaching from the sea.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 274 As the battle was winding down, Mataki assigned Tai to get the remaining stragglers down to the Sea Raven LZ while she retrieved Marcus and Pvt.Carlos Santiago. He asked her if she was sure Santiago was still out there, as he had not heard any firing from the area he was in for a few minutes, and that he hadn't reported in on the radio. She told Tai she was sure he was still out there, and Tai proceeded to head to the LZ.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 313 One Year after Emergence Day Battle of Jannermont Only a few weeks after the end of the Pendulum Wars, the Locust emerged. One year later, during the retreat back over Tyra River, Tai served in a squad with Sgt.Marcus Fenix, Pvt.Dominic Santiago, and Pvt.Padrick Salton. While on route back to Ephyra, they heard that Jannermont was under attack, and headed to help. They found Locust killing civilians in a general store, and rushed to help. During the battle, Marcus was wrestling with a Drone and was unable to reach any of his weapons. Tai came from behind with a power saw and sliced the Drone in half. This lead to the creation of the Chainsaw Bayonet.http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/05/24/the-gear-of-gears.aspx They then loaded the wounded civilians into their APC, and took them to a first aid station. As they began to head back to Ephyra, their APC broke down and was unable to be fixed. They stripped it of all useful parts, but Tai had them leave the broken engine, in order to teach the Locust "value of strength from adversity". They then began walking to the nearest convoy point.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 130-142 Rushing back to Ephyra They reached a vehicle checkpoint along the Ephyra-Kinnerlake highway, where they overheard Chairman Richard Prescotts announcement of the Hammer of Dawn counterattack. Marcus was held at the checkpoint because his father had requested he be evacuated, but Marcus refused to leave the squad, and instead put a civilian and his baby on board the Raven that had come to pick him up. Tai and the rest of the squad then began to move abandoned cars out of the way, in order to allow military and civilian traffic to flow again. After they finished, they boarded a convoy heading back to Ephyra.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 180-187 Clearing the Voslov Bridge After making it back to Ephyra, Tai and the rest of the squad were deployed to reopen the Voslov Bridge a mere seven hours before the Hammer strike. They arrived to find fifty Locust had destroyed a convoy crossing the bridge, and were looting the remains. They headed to the bridge control booth, where Marcus lifted up the bridge, killing all the Locust on the it as they were crushed by vehicles, while Tai fired a Longspear into a fuel truck, killing most of the other Drones. The four of them then mopped up what was left of the Locust. Tai then watched with Marcus and Dom as Pad cleared a path for the convoy with a bulldozer. They got back into their APC, and Pad drove it to the rear of the last convoy to make it safely to Ephyra. As they drove, Dom asked Tai if he had any family still on the Islands. Tai told him that he hoped that the Hammer of Dawn would not waste it's time targeting most of the Islands.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 276-284 Scouting a Wasteland Five days after the Hammer of Dawn strike, Tai and the squad was deployed in PA-Five-One to scout the areas near Ephyra hit by the attack. After driving for several hours, they stopped one kilometer outside the city of Gerrenhalt because the terrain was too tough for the APC. As Pad took a break to relieve himself, Dom and Marcus talked with Tai, and Marcus told him that few of the Island were targeted. They were interrupted when Pad returned, shaken up because he had discovered he had been standing on dead bodies. They drove back to base, where Pad sat down in front of the APC and began talking about death in wistful tones. After he left the hanger, Marcus asked Tai to take a shift with Pad to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Tai replied that it was not their decision on whether or not Pad wanted to live with the things he had seen, but followed him anyway.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 313-323 Evacuation of North Gate Preparing for the Evacuation Thirteen years later, the war with the Locust continued to rage. Tai took part in the Evacuation of North Gate, where he was Col.Victor Hoffman's personal APC driver. He and Hoffman were in APC-One, in the middle of the convoy. As they drove, Hoffman had Tai stop so he could speak to a couple of Stranded women. After they began driving again, Tai and Hoffman discussed if the Locust were close to defeat, and Tai vowed to make sure the last of the Locust would lay dead at Hoffman's feet.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 68-73 Shortly after they arrived at the North Gate Agricultural Depot, Lt.Anya Stroud informed them that a group of Locust had been spotted moving on the ground. KR A-108 was dispatched to transport Tai and the other Gears to intercept them. As they flew to the ambush point, Tai and the other Gears discussed with the Raven crew on if the war was really almost over, and Hoffman pointed out how after the Battle of Aspho Fields, the Pendulum Wars had still gone on for two more years, with many more casualties. Tai responded with the exact amount of Gears that had been killed, stopping the conversation. Pvt.Augustus Cole asked Tai if his lip piercings made it hard for him to get women, and Tai and the others laughed. Once they arrived at the ambush point, Tai and the others got off of the Raven and into to cover. Once the Locust got into range, Hoffman gave the order to engage. During the battle, Tai charged into the Locust, screaming as he cut into one with his chainsaw. After the last of the Drones were killed, the Raven returned Tai and the others to the convoy point.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 134-146 Ambushes Tai once again drove Hoffman in APC-One in the middle of the convoy. As they drove, both sensed that something was wrong, when suddenly the Locust ambushed part of the convoy. Trucks Two-twenty-five and Two-twenty-six were taken out, and all personal aboard both were killed. As Tai drove APC-One to take over at the head of the convoy, they passed the two trucks and discovered Stranded swarming over them. Tai and Hoffman stopped and exited the truck, with Tai mad that they were crawling over the bodies of his comrades. He fired his grenade launcher into the trucks as the Stranded ran away, blowing it up. He called out to the Stranded that he would return for the remains later, determined to not leave anyone behind, alive or dead.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 197-205 After Two-forty-five and APC-Three were hit, Tai and Hoffman took up positions in the Theater of the Muses to investigate a Locust ambush. However, their APC was booby trapped while they were away from it. When they returned to it and discovered the trap, Hoffman and Tai disconnected their comms, not wanting to draw any other Gears into the ambush. They decided to attempt to make their own way back, or take as many Locust down with them as they could.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 253-258 They became pinned down as Locust emerged from a basement, but Tai was able to plug it up with a grenade. Several Locust were still able to come out of it, and continued to close in on the two of them. Tai chainsawed several, but they were still in danger of being overrun until Marcus and Dom arrived to save them. Jack arrived and disarmed the bomb on the APC, and Tai drove them back to the Jacinto safe zone.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 325-331 Recovering the Fallen The next day, Tai led a recovery team to recover the remains of the dead drivers and guards from the destroyed vehicles that had been left behind.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 364-365 Continuing the Fight Battle outside of Jacinto Three weeks later, Tai fought in a battle outside of Jacinto alongside Marcus, Pvt.Jace Stratton, and Pvt.Dizzy Wallin. After the battle, he sees Jace looking ill at the sight of all the Locust corpses, and asks if he is okay. Jace responds that he is not thrilled with death, and Tai tells him that he shouldn't be, and that all life is sacred. Jace responds that it is hard to remember that sometimes, and Tai agrees, but says they still must remember. He then burns the corpses of the Locust with a flamethrower. Raid on Jacinto Med Five months later, Tai was stationed at Jacinto Med when it came under attack by Locust. He ran into Marcus and Pvt.Dominic Santiago during the raid, and told them it was good to see them again. He then led them upstairs, where he showed them an ambush that had been set up to take out the Locust. He also warned them to stay away from the rustlung patients, and explained to them what it was. After they wiped out the first group of Drones, they proceeded to clear the hospital of all the attacking Locust. When they reached the exit, they discovered Pvt.Benjamin Carmine, Delta's newest member. The four of them headed outside, and repelled the Locust incursion along with several other Gears. After the battle, Carmine attempted to get a high five from Tai, but failed.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Desperation Operation: Hollow Storm Assault on Landown During the Assault on Landown, Tai rode on Rig D14 on the road to the city. His Derrick was in the rear guard, and was unharmed upon its arrival in the city.Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Rolling Thunder However, it was destroyed by Tickers the moment it entered the city, killing Tai's entire squad. Tai somehow survived, and joined up with Delta-One once again. As they fought through the city, Tai talked about when the Locust first took Landown, and how it was a bad omen. They cleared a path to the drill site for Delta's Rig,Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Roadblocks and defended it from the Locust counterattack. However, before Tai and Carmine could tunnel into the Hollow, Skorge attacked the Derrick. Tai left his Grindlift to assist Dizzy as he fought against Skorge. After his squadmates Grindlifts got away,Gears of War 2: Act 1: Tip of the Spear: Desperation: Digging In Tai realized that he was no match for Skorge, and he ordered Dizzy to leave and save himself. After Dizzy escaped, Tai lost the fight against Skorge. Captured, Processed, and Death Tai was not killed, and along with many other Gears, he was captured by the Locust. He was taken to the Hollow and "processed" by being hung on hooks and whipped with a metal whip. Tai was then imprisoned on a Beast Barge, where he was found by Delta Squad, heavily scarred and brutally tortured, with bleeding gouges and deep slashes all over his body and back from the processing. Marcus, unaware of the mental toll the torture had taken on him, armed Tai with a Gnasher Shotgun and told him to join the team. Tai hesitated, and realizing his soul had already left his body, he aimed the shotgun at his own head. As Marcus heard him cock the shotgun, he tried to stop Tai before he pulled the trigger, but was too late and Tai committed suicide. Marcus is horrified at the turn of events and Carmine, who had truly believed that Tai could survive everything, was shocked. His COG Tags are then collected by Marcus, and his body was left on the barge.Gears of War: Act 2: Denizens: Captivity Personality and Traits Tai, along with his attitude, is calm and almost philosophical at moments. During battle he can reflect this calm and yet violent personality, as he says "I like the glow of Locust blood in this light". He is willing, able, strong, brave, ready to lead, and ready to fight, just like any COG soldier should be. After being captured and tortured, it lead him to suicide but it was not of own personal dissatisfaction with life, but rather because he was left a broken and hollow man according to his religion. His soul had left his body long before his torture by his Locust captors, his body was merely following when it got the opportunity. Tai decorated his armor and Lancer with tribal symbols, something that was against regulations.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 68 Notable Quotes Behind the Scenes *Tai Kaliso is based off the New Zealand Maori. He is the first Gears of War character created with the intention of showing religion in the series. *Tai was voiced by Fred Tatasciore. Multiplayer Tai Kaliso is a playable character in Gears of War 2 multiplayer, and is unlocked by beating Act 2: Denizens. He will be a playable character along with Dizzy Wallin in the multiplayer modes of Gears of War 3. References Category:Characters Category:Gear Soldier Category:Pendulum Wars veterans Category:South Islanders Category:Males